Admins response superficial
To the Editors:
I would like to respond to President Dyes and other faculty members
letters of disappointment about the Zionism = Racism stickers and signs
that have appeared throughout the campus in the past month. Although President Dye and Peter Goldsmith,
et. al. superficially addressed two problems with these signs in their letters to the editors,
namely that they are hurtful and divisive and the offenders have not had the
courage to take responsibility for their words, both letters fail to address the true nature
and definition of these statements. The statement Zionism = Racism supercedes speech that is hurtful
or divisive; this phrase is not hurtful speech, but hate speech. Zionism is defined as the
liberation movement of the Jewish people, a belief that Jews should have and are entitled to a
homeland. Therefore this phrase is far more than simply insulting and offensive. It attacks the
inherent belief that Jews have a right to a homeland. President Dye comments in her letter, making
our campus a truly free space is an endeavor that requires everybodys efforts, particularly
now. In order to make our campus one that is open and accepting, we must take a stand against
speech that is intrinsically hateful and silencing, not. To close our eyes to the hate that is
intrinsically a part of this speech is to sanction it.
This phrase is hate speech against Jews who believe in their right for a homeland; the letters
have deeper, more disturbing implications. The light criticism of this hateful action depicts a
lack of care and action by the administration. The administration has refused to take a stand that
these stickers are fundamentally anti-Semitic and hateful, and instead remind us we
attend a school that values a liberal education [that] should open and complicate our minds.
What our schools leaders have neglected to include is that a liberal education should not
value hate, the silencing of groups, or ignorance, which is what the phrase Zionism = Racism
teaches. I would like to direct the administration to other universities, such as Harvard, where
President Lawrence Summers unequivocally stated at an address in September 2002 that statements
such as this one will not be tolerated as any sort of knowledge or reason
when discussing issues on the campus and within the world at large. On this campus, the faculty
has been seriously remiss in addressing this issue for what it actually is: hate
Daniella Risman
College sophomore
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